respectful_observer's thread on Guy Pierce's death,
got me thinking. Some replies there brought up replacement possibilities. That makes me wonder whether they will want to replace him or just go on with 7 GB members, especially with their "helpers." After all, Jaracz went on with a dwindling number while GB 1.0 were dying off. He only began to find replacements after the number got pretty tiny and all his GB enemies were gone.
It also makes me wonder, if they are looking for others who would help them share the work load, how big the pot is of individuals from which they could draw new members. It cannot be large. Many of us know that often those who partake are viewed as strange or marginal, have mental issues, etc. In spite of the recent uptick in memorial partakers, the real number of potential replacement candidates grows smaller every year. respectful_observer mentioned Joel Friedman, a name I've never heard. The only substantial hit on google about him is a past post here. 5 years ago Seeker4, a member since 2001 with over 3200 posts but whose last post was 2 years ago, stated this in a thread on "anointed ones in your congo":
Joel Friedman, an elder in the Bennington, VT congregation and last I heard a CO. Hot shot younger elder, up and coming and a company man at the time. Acted very humble, but I agree with the comment above that there is a highly inflated sense of self-importance going on in someone deciding that god has suddenly picked them out of the 6 billion to rule with him.
Some years back I knew a local brother who was not unstable or a weirdo, just a normal married elder with kids, who began partaking after years of not doing so. He was very down to earth and a humble guy. I remember how peeved he was at the hypocrisy of the org's leadership (for example, not admitting their responsibility for the 1975 debacle), even though, of course, he was still loyal to it. But since he never pioneered at length or went into other full-time work, he would never be considered for an appointment to the GB. There is an established practice of considering for GB membership only those men who have been in the full-time service for many years and been unquestionably loyal to the previous and ongoing policy makers. Therefore, in the case of Friedman, the principle of not appointing a newly converted man may be at work in the power structure's minds. He may have to prove his loyalty for more years… My google search also reports that a man with this name has been living in NYC. Is Friedman at Bethel and if so, is he still there?
There was considerable rumour among R&F Bethelites prior to Mark Sanderson's appointment to the GB that he would be next. He had the credentials mentioned above. Forum member Neo posted this 8 years ago when Anthony Morris and Geoffrey Jackson were appointed to the GB:
"Tony" and "Jeff" were already considered "Governing Body material" because they were GB assistants in Bethel and "partake" of the "Memorial".
So then, since there are so many members at this forum with connections among those still in, or members who themselves are still in, what's the word? Who might be up for consideration? Friedman? Other partakers with more years of loyalty, perhaps in countries outside the USA (like G. Jackson was)?
Maybe one of the reasons they're so convinced that the end must come soon is that there are so few anointed left who meet their criteria for serving on the GB!